Asthma is a common airway inflammatory disorder, characterized by increased infiltration of leukocytes and bronchoconstriction. Dexamethasone (DEX) has been widely used in the treatment of allergic asthma. However, long-term and frequent use of DEX has side effects. We therefore reasoned that if drug carriers have intrinsic anti-inflammatory and anti-asthmatic activity and synergize with drug payloads, a low dose of DEX could exert sufficient therapeutic effects. In this study, we developed DEX-loaded H₂O₂-activatable boronate maltodextrin (DEX-BM) nanoparticles. DEX-BM nanoparticles released DEX in a H₂O₂-triggered manner and remarkably suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in activated macrophages and lung epithelial cells. In the studies of a murine allergic asthma model, DEX-BM nanoparticles (5 mg/kg) effectively inhibited the inflammatory cell infiltration and airway inflammation than equivalent DEX and BM nanoparticles without noticeable side effects. We anticipate that DEX-BM nanoparticles hold great potential as therapeutic agents for various airway inflammatory diseases.

哮喘是一种常见的气道炎症性疾病，其特征是白细胞浸润增加和支气管收缩。地塞米松（DEX）已广泛用于治疗过敏性哮喘。但是，长期频繁使用 DEX 有副作用。因此我们推断，如果药物载体具有内在的抗炎和抗哮喘活性并与药物有效载荷协同作用，那么低剂量的 DEX 就可以发挥足够的治疗效果。在这项研究中，我们开发了负载 DEX 的 H ₂ O _{2 可}活化硼酸盐麦芽糖糊精 (DEX-BM) 纳米颗粒。DEX-BM 纳米粒子在 H ₂ O _{2 中}释放 DEX-触发方式并显着抑制活化巨噬细胞和肺上皮细胞中促炎细胞因子的表达。在小鼠过敏性哮喘模型的研究中，DEX-BM 纳米颗粒 (5 mg/kg) 比等效的 DEX 和 BM 纳米颗粒有效抑制炎症细胞浸润和气道炎症，且没有明显的副作用。我们预计 DEX-BM 纳米颗粒作为各种气道炎症疾病的治疗剂具有巨大的潜力。